All Saints

“Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.”

Collect for All Saints Day November 1 from Book of Common Prayer, p. 245

Today is All Saints’ Day, which is one of the seven principal feast days of the liturgical calendar year. When Nov. 1 falls on a weekday, All Saints’ Day may be observed on the following Sunday. St. Martin’s will celebrate this feast day on Sunday, Nov. 3, with Holy Baptisms at the 11:15 a.m. Traditional service. Since it is a principal feast day, the color of the day will be Festal White and the Paschal Candle will be present.

The word “saint” is the English translation of the Greek word or “holy,” and the Scripture describes all followers of Christ, all members of His Church, called out of this world to be holy or set apart for God.

During the time of the persecutions in the early Church, those who were killed for their faith (martyrs, Greek for “witness”) were honored for their sacrifice and designated “saint.”^[1] Those who endured torture for their faith but had not died were known as confessors.^[2]

The origins of All Saints’ Day are uncertain. The day has been celebrated on different dates throughout the Church’s history in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In the works of Gregory Thaumaturgus written before his death in the year 270, he references the observance of a festival of all martyrs. About 100 years later, Ephrem, the Deacon of Syria, mentions such an observance in Edessa on May 13. Before his death in 407, when John Chrysostom was bishop, a festival of All Saints was observed in Constantinople on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Today, the East Syriac Church actually commemorates All Saints on Friday during Easter week.^[3]

In the Western Church, tradition has it that All Saints originated in Ireland and then spread to the rest of Europe. There are records that in Rome in the seventh century, All Saints was also celebrated on May 13. Later, following the Reformation and a renewed focus on the Scriptures, the definition of “saint” reflected the scriptural understanding of saints as the members of the Church, both living and dead.^[4] This also eliminated the distinction between All Saints’ Day (martyrs) and All Souls’ Day celebrated on Nov. 2 honoring the faithful departed.^[5]

[1] Patricia S. Klein, “Worship Without Words-The Signs Of Our Faith” (Brewster, Massachusetts: Paraclete Press, 2000) page 75

[2] Ibid.

[3] Frank T. Griswold, “Holy Women Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints” (New York, NY: Church Publishing incorporated, 2020) page 662

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.